On Monday, we hosted a screening of the Reason Foundation’s new documentary America’s Longest War in Joplin. After the film, local cannabis law reform activist (and former Show-Me Cannabis Regulation board member) Kelly Maddy facilitated a Q&A session between the audience, film co-producer and Reason Foundation President David Nott, Trish and Daryl Betrand of Springfield, and myself.

The event drew over 60 attendees, including several members of the Alliance of Southwest Missouri, which considers cannabis to be “a concern and threat to the safety and well being of families” in the area. Before the meeting, the Alliance sent out a press release describing what they see as the harms of cannabis, and during the Q&A those members in attendance asked a number of pointed questions of the panelists.

Although I’m sure my perspective on the issue still differs from theirs, I am very pleased that they took the time to consider our point of view and attend the event. I firmly believe that the truth is on our side, so I welcome any opportunity to discuss it with those individuals who disagree or are undecided.

We jumpstarted a very positive dialogue about cannabis policy in Joplin, and we’ve scheduled a number of new events over the past week in our effort to bring that discussion to every part of the state. Here is our current calendar of town hall meetings:

About Johnny Green

Johnny Green is a marijuana activist from Oregon. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Public Policy. Follow Johnny Green on Facebook and Twitter. Also, feel free to email any concerns.

pkr8ch

I really hope to see this same type of screening and Q&A throughout the country and maybe even globally at some point. I think the Q&A afterwards is a genius idea. Anytime you can engage a pro prohibitionialist in a debate you are slowly changing history. I hope to see this documentary in California or uploaded at some point. California needs to catch up to Colorado and Washington already.

malcolmkyle

Health concerns regarding marijuana tend to come from a self-fueling group of discredited scientists funded by the pharmaceutical, prison, tobacco, and alcohol industries. They push non-peer-reviewed papers, fraught with conjecture and confounding variables, while relying upon reports issued by others in their own group to further support their own grossly misleading research and clearly biased agendas.

The Duke University (New Zealand) study, the one which claimed that smoking marijuana in your teens leads to a long-term drop in IQ, has since been utterly rebuked by a new paper, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that examined the research and found its methodology to be flawed.

Here is a recent peer-reviewed Study proving that Marijuana is not linked with Long Term Cognitive Impairment:

Amy M. Schreiner of the Department of Psychology at the University of Central Florida recently led a study that looked at 33 existing meta-analyses of cognitive impairment experienced by heavy cannabis users. Schreiner was unable to provide evidence of long-lasting impairment. Specifically, the participants demonstrated no significant cognitive deficiencies once the intoxication period ended. Additionally, Schreiner found no symptoms of impairment in the individuals who had abstained for 25 days. In conclusion she said, “These results fail to support the idea that heavy cannabis use may result in long-term, persistent effects on neuropsychological functioning.”

We just need to legalize the plant so that way out country wouldn’t be in so much debt

Ricky Ableidinger

EVERY PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY SHOULD BE OFFERED THE SAME MEDICAL TREATMENTS….IT HAS TO B FAIR AND EQUAL TO ALL IN THIS COUNTRY

Miranda Leigh

IF cannabis is not good for YOUR family, don’t have it under YOUR roof. plain & simple.

It’s not any committee’s job to tell me what is good for my house.

sam schouweiler

My aunt who lives in Granby is dying of cancer(she is 5 ft nothing and on a good day maybe 90 lbs soaking wet). With all the research and tests that have been done and proven to help patients of chemotheropy with the struggles of the treatment people are still thinking the reefer madness was an award winning documentary. I would do anything to save a person in my family who I love. Whether that means being there to take them to the hospital or simply rolling a jay for them to have the strength to eat.